This trip was our first international trip we took together, as a relatively new couple. Stu surprised me with airline tickets for my birthday, arranging for us to be in Peru on Valentine’s Day. He loved to brag about how he “killed two birds with one stone” on that one, ha ha! Back then we were both working hard, and couldn’t take much time off of work, so we had to cram as much as we could into shorter trips! Read along to see how we crammed visiting Cusco and Machu Picchu into 3 days!
Day One: Cusco
You can’t fly directly into Cusco, you must book a short, domestic flight from somewhere else in Peru. We had a direct flight from Toronto to Lima, which unfortunately was delayed 4+ hours due to a snowstorm. Once we arrived in Lima, we had just missed our connecting flight to Cusco by a few minutes. Uh oh… Luckily, we had an amazing experience rebooking for later that morning with our airline, Avianca, with no penalties or extra fees. We used Avianca for several domestic flights around Peru, and highly recommend!
Pro tips:
- One way to save time when travelling on shorter trips : backpacking, no checked baggage. Due to multiple short flights we had coming up on this trip, we used our large backpacks, which just fit into overhead storage.
- To make room in your pack: pack older, stained, or ripped clothes you don’t wear often or are okay with getting rid of, and ditch them as you go. This will lighten your load, and make room for souvenirs! I did this with mismatched socks, old underwear and tees and tanks I used for layering, since we went from cooler weather to warmer weather on this trip.
The flight to Cusco was short and sweet – about an hour and a half, with excellent service and a not-too-crowded aircraft. Flying over the endless Andes mountains was such an unforgettable experience, as was stepping out onto the tarmac and being in instant awe of the beauty of the huge bright green mountains surrounding us on all sides. Within minutes, we were in a taxi taking the short ride to Cusco. We were dropped right in the Plaza de Armas, which is the town center, and WOW… Since then we’ve been to a lot of Latin-American plazas, and this one still stands out and holds a special place in my heart. Originally built by the Incas, you could instantly feel the history here. With it’s cobblestone streets, colourful gardens in the center, and the beautiful buildings that surround it, most famously: the Cusco Cathedral and the Church La Compañía de Jesús, it was just stunning.
At this point, we’d had little sleep, and were in search of lunch and wifi so we could find somewhere to wash ourselves, drop our bags, and lay down for a bit. Of all places that we came across offering free wifi, the first was an Irish pub, Paddy’s, right in the town center of Cusco! At this point it had started to rain, which it always does in Cusco in February, so we were happy to find the shelter, and the beer. Afterwards, we wandered across the plaza to El Virrey Boutique Hostel, which is right in the plaza, with amazing views of the cathedral right across the way, and the Cusco mountains on all sides. The “hostel”, was more like a small hotel, beautifully decorated, with ornately carved teak accents, and almost a Balinese vibe. We got a private room with a bathroom for the night, which also included breakfast.
We showered and changed and decided to go for a stroll… a verrrrry slow stroll. Altitude sickness is a real thing! Don’t think that being young and fit, you may be able to escape it! It felt like a mild flu, with major fatigue, and breathlessness… only the slightest incline in the road would put you right out of breath like never before!
Tips to combat altitude sickness: coca leaf tea, LOTS of water, move slowly, talk to your doctor about a prescription for a preventative altitude sickness medication. Many people come here to acclimate before doing the famous Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu, when doing this, it’s recommended to take 2-3 days here to adjust first.
What an amazing little city, though. Cobblestone streets, beautiful cathedrals, shops, old and new, dozens of restaurants, street vendors selling crafts and art. Mountain people were easily identified in their colourful traditional garb. They would come to town during the day to sell handmade goods to tourists, charge for photos with them, or their pets… we were approached by an adorable little mountain girl with a baby alpaca swaddled in a blanket that she offered us to pet (for a fee, of course).
We went to the travel agency a few doors down from our hostel, and booked a two-day Sacred Valley/ Machu Picchu tour for the following morning. It seemed to be of better or equal value than booking all the transportation to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley ourselves, and this way everything was taken care of, with no stress.
After all this exploring, and travel planning, we were hungry (and ready for a drink), and this was the first of many times where we would walk around in this state of mind, completely unable to decide where to eat, neither one of us capable of making any kind of decision. Thankfully, the waiters stand on the street with menus, pulling you in around the plaza, so this worked to our advantage after lazily walking several cobblestone streets, out of breath. We got a beautiful spot on the second level, overlooking the plaza. This, being our first Peruvian meal, we decided to dive right in and try the Alpaca. It was prepared in almost a stir-fry way, and was quite delicious. Tasted similar to beef, maybe a little tougher, but could have just been the way it was prepared here. After this we had a nice early bedtime at 7:30pm (there was no time change for us in Peru).
First rainy walk around la Plaza de Armas, Cusco
Day Two: The Sacred Valley of the Incas
We woke at 7am and packed a small bag, left our big ones locked up at the hostel, and went to find our bus that would take us to begin our two-day adventure. It was still dark, and we got to watch the day begin over Cusco. Once we were organized and seated (which took some Spanish to help ensure we were in the right place), we began our drive uphill, into the Andes. Believe it or not, at 11,152 feet above sea level, Cusco is hidden in a valley, surrounded by the Andes mountains. To get to where we were going first, it was a steady drive UP. We got to stare down into Cusco from above, which was a beautiful site. We passed many of the historical sites on our way into the mountains, and got to make our first stop at a mountaintop market where locals sold their crafts. Lots of alpaca sweaters and blankets, handmade jewelry and souvenirs… it was interesting to see how the families lived in that community, and the animals that walked the streets.
We then drove further north into the mountains, never letting our eyes miss a thing, smiling with excitement the entire time. So much that our faces were starting to hurt! Such vibrant green, lush scenery, so much natural beauty. Next, we got to get out and finally get our first look at the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the Urubamba Valley, which was the center of the Great Incan Empire. The valley runs along the Urubamba River, which created fertile land, and a safe home for the Incas. They used this area to grow Maize, a staple in their diet, and other crops, because of its lower elevation and warmer temperatures. This was the beginning of the true historical beauty we were about to see, and where our real excitement began.
Pisac Ruins – Parque Arqueologico Pisac
Our next stop was the Pisac ruins. We pulled up to the most spectacular view of this incredible Inca citadel that sits along a mountaintop crest. We didn’t even have to leave the parking lot before being completely mesmerized by the scenery around us. Not a lot is known about when, why, and by whom the site was built, but there are a few theories… The location and the size of the ruins suggest that they were critical line of defense for Cusco, the capital of the Incan Empire.
This was the first set of ruins we got to get out and explore! The buildings themselves were above endless, beautiful green rows of agricultural terraces built the entire way down the mountainside . We had come back down to an altitude of about 10,000 ft at this point.
In spite of the windedness we felt from the altitude sickness, we quickly left our group, and spent the short amount of time there hiking right to the very top of the ruins for the most impeccable views of the village down below. We had to move quickly up the steep, narrow, stone walkways and stairs to get there as we didn’t have much time, so we were extremely out of breath through it all. It was shocking how much so, we thought we were in good shape, but that clearly doesn’t mean a thing that high up! Once we were up there we got to put our arms around each other and really just take a minute to appreciate where we were. It was very hard to wrap your head around how OLD these structures actually were, and what was actually involved in building back then. Men worked with their bare hands and feet, without power tools, tractors or bulldozers, and somehow these incredible places are still standing for us to enjoy and appreciate today. There was an ingenious method to their construction, especially for agriculture. There were layers upon layers of different types and sizes of rocks, and sand to create perfect drainage, and to resist erosion. Certain types of crops were to go on different terraces at different elevation. To say it was all impressive would be a massive understatement!
Pisac Village
We happened to be traveling during Peru’s week of “Carnival”, which is the week leading up to lent. It is Peruvian tradition to bomb everyone you see with water balloons, water guns, or just buckets of water in the streets to celebrate. As our bus entered the town of Pisac the local children saw us coming and got us good. Our windows were open and in came the barrages of water to soak us all while the kids laughed and celebrated. It was a very sweet thing to see such… a simple act of fun bringing such joy to them all.
Pisac Market was bustling with vendors selling vibrant woven tapestries, leather goods, jewelry, and food. Part of the tour included going into a jewelry shop to see how the silver is made into intricate pieces that held the beautiful local stones. Later, we got some time to explore and shop for a bit. Stu grabbed a snack of corn on the cob that a woman was cooking in the street, served with a big hunk of homemade cheese. We will likely never see a cob of corn with such gigantic kernels again in our lives. They were so big we could pull them off one at a time to eat like finger food!
At this time, we loaded back onto the bus, where a local woman boarded who was selling gorgeous little bottles of a liqueur called Anisada that tasted similar to sambuca. The bottle came wrapped beautifully in a colourful woven tapestry, which we kept for a souvenir after we drank it on the bus ride.
The tour included a nice buffet lunch at a restaurant in a small town, not far from Pisac, and afterwards, we made our way to where our bus would leave us for good: Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo, or “Olly”, is an old town built by an Incan Emperor in the mid-15th century. It has a grid of cobblestone streets with shops and restaurants that are surrounded by some very unique ruins. Apparently some of the oldest continuously occupied dwellings in South America are here in Olly.
Children playing in the streets bombed us with water once again when we pulled in, and we left the bus and went straight for the ruins again. It began with a series of stairs (hundreds of them), that went up through terraces they would have used for farming, to a ceremonial center at the top. There was also the very unique storehouses built into the mountains. We walked up some of the stairs, got winded, decided to take a path along the side of a mountain instead, and find a quiet spot to sit and take in the views of Olly from above.
As I said before, our bus tour portion of the day was over, and we would later be leaving by train, so we had a good amount of time to kill. We wandered the ruins at the base of the mountain, perused the market, and eventually found a rooftop patio to have a snack and a couple drinks, and watch the local children soak all the passing cars with balloons and buckets of water.
By the time we boarded our train, night had fallen, and we sat with a group of four friends from Texas who pulled out a mickey of Jack Daniels and a few large tetra packs of wine and promptly offered us some. Needless to say: we quickly became friends. This group oozed positive energy, were always laughing, and extremely friendly and generous. We drank and laughed with them our whole train ride, which was a couple of hours long, and our journey ended in the town that is the gateway to Machu Picchu: Aguas Calientes.
Aguas Calientes
Aguas Calientes is a remote town deep in the Urubamba Valley, accessible to tourists only by train. Although only 68 miles from Cusco, the journey we took to get here makes it seem SO much further. The name Aguas Calientes translates to “hot waters”, after it’s thermal baths which people love to come and soak in after days of hiking the Inca Trail. There’s not a heck of a lot to do in Aguas Calientes otherwise. The town doesn’t produce anything, and was only really developed once the railroad came in in 1931. It exists solely as a stopping point for people coming to see the most famous Incan ruins of all: Machu Picchu. The town’s population is about 4,500, and with about 1,500 tourists coming in on the train every day, the locals survive solely on income from tourism. Most people arrive one day, spend the night, go to the ruins in the morning, and then take the train out that evening. There’s many choices for food and drink, shops, a great artisanal market, hot springs, hotels, and that’s pretty much it!
Our train arrived pretty late in the evening, where there was a bit of a scramble to find our guide, which the tour provided, who would be waiting for us with a sign. He showed us to our hostel, which provided a modest, clean room, with a bathroom and a bed, all we needed. We went out to explore and wandered the streets with a cold Cusquena, in search of some food. There were multiple restaurants with live music playing, all trying to lure us in for service. We had a quick meal of Pollo a la Brasa (roasted chicken) and rice, and got to bed early so we would be rested up for our big day at Machu Picchu!
Day 3: Machu Picchu
When we woke, it was still dark. We showered, and packed up our backpacks and headed out to where we were to get on a bus that would take us up to the top of the mountain to see what we came all this way to see: the great Machu Picchu! We were excited to find our group of Texans in line to get on the same bus. Being out in that town in the early morning before the sun came up was neat. The Vilcanota River flows through town, and it RUSHES. It is so loud, and such a beautiful sound when the rest of the town is still asleep. We could hear it, but not yet really see it…
Once on the bus, we could start to see the light of day, we drove along the river, a few min from town, and started our ascent. We had no idea what a wild ride up it would be! We were slowly winding up a VERY steep hill (all the mountains in this area all seemed to go straight UP), we would do hairpin turn after hairpin turn, which wouldn’t be easy for an unskilled driver. Maneuvering a bus around these turns is truly a talent on it’s own, before you even factor in the oncoming traffic. Yes, this early in the morning, there was traffic – MANY people go to the top to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu. We went up fast, and had our eyes looking out of the windows the entire time. It was something like we’d never seen before, and likely ever will again. Such lush, thick, bright green mountains, as far as the eye could see, clouds hovering to cover the tops, no civilization in sight. It truly felt as if we were driving into the sky and through the clouds.
Once we were there, we checked our bags and got our own English-speaking guide with the Texans to walk us through and educate us on this great wonder. I will never forget the moment we first passed through the gates and followed the path up to where we caught our first glimpse. We stepped onto the platform, gazing down at the grandeur of the great lost civilization, and my heart stood still. There it stood, Machu Picchu, the destination we had journeyed so far to see. Perched atop a mountain, surrounded by clouds, it had some of the most breathtaking panoramic views imaginable. You could stand and stare at the neighbouring mountains for hours, especially the spectacular Huayna Picchu right behind it. It reaches over 8800ft above sea level, and about 850ft above Machu Picchu. Its a popular hike, one I couldn’t imagine doing at that point while enduring the altitude sickness we were experiencing, but now that I look back, I wonder if it should make it onto the old bucket list after all…
About Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu was built likely for the Incan Emperor in 1450, and was all abandoned 100 years later during the Spanish Invasion. It was completely buried by plants and trees, to the point where it wasn’t even visible any more for centuries. It wasn’t discovered again until 1911, when it was dug out to be revealed to the world once again. As a recurring trend: one cannot even fathom how it was built, where it was built, and with the lack of technology we have today. The size of some of these boulders that were cut and moved to be the building blocks of the walls…the fact that they’ve survived the weather, the abandonment…it all just leaves you in awe.
The tour was great: not too long, not too short. Educational, entertaining, funny… We wandered through the different sections and buildings and were given a good picture of how life may have been back when the city was inhabited. We were given an ample amount of time afterwards to tour and take pictures on our own before having to be back at the bus to head back down to town.
When we returned to Aguas Calientes, it was time for lunch. We ate at a restaurant with a view of the small plaza and afterward, we set out to discover the local thermal baths. To enter, you had to walk this magical footpath that followed a small river into the rainforest. The rocks along the way had beautiful carvings depicting different Incan legends. The baths themselves were pretty much what it sounds like: BATHS… with other people. You pay to use them, there’s change rooms, and lockers. Not a totally natural hot spring experience, but the setting and the walk in are all worth the experience.
When we came out we ran into the Texans again and shopped the Mercado de Artesanias with them for goods and souvenirs, and then we got a table Toto’s House, on their gorgeous patio, overlooking the thundering, Urubamba River. I don’t think we could have chosen a better vista to spend our last hours in Aguas Calientes. I’ll never forget the sheer volume of the Vilcanota River rushing by as we laughed and shared stories, all still on our high from that morning’s adventure.
We boarded our train and were completely shocked when we were all given free upgrades to FIRST CLASS on the train, which included a very fancy car, with complimentary champagne and a three-course meal! Once the meal was over, the door to the next car opened, where there was a gorgeous bar serving drinks, and live music! We swayed and sang to the rhythm of La Bamba, peeking our heads out of the train’s side doors, reveling in a moment straight out of an Indiana Jones adventure.
Once our train arrived in Ollantaytambo, we found our bus that would take us back to Cusco. We all loaded into the back, and immediately passed out. Seeing Cusco and Machu Picchu in 3 days is hard work! We got back into Cusco late that evening, and somehow found the energy to drink rum & cokes at a bar called Mama Africa until it closed.
Seeing Cusco and Machu Picchu in 3 days
There you have it, it really is possible to see Cusco and Machu Picchu in 3 days. You can do what we did, and take the tour, or it is possible to book your own bus, train trips and overnight stays. For us, we were thankful for the convenience, especially since we were doing late evening travel. After a day of travelling by bus and by train it was so nice to have a guide waiting for us to walk us through a town we’d never been to, in the dark, and show us to our hostel. We also love the informative aspect of a guide, and if you get a good one, the humour! There are many tour agencies around the plaza in Cusco to choose from.
Time to say goodbye to Cusco and hello to the beaches of Northern Peru!
In the morning, we had an hour to walk the streets before catching a flight out to Piura. Soon enough we’d be laying on the beach! We bought some local art in the square, had a coffee and sat and watched the foot traffic in a small park. When our time came, we got a cab and made our way to the airport. Much to our luck (again), they boarded us 40 minutes early, and our flight took off fifteen minutes later, while we sat in our upgraded seats in first class with free cocktails and lots of leg room in the first row. It isn’t likely that that will ever happen again: a free upgrade AND an early departure AND free booze! Once again, Avianca for the win!
More on our Peru travels to come!
Stay Itchy,
Ash
